


Interregnum

by Ikira



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Black Paladin Keith (Voltron), Boys learning to use their words, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Jealous Lance (Voltron), Post-Season/Series 02, Shiro is gone and everything sucks, Technically gen but feel free to read it as pre-slash, talking it out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2017-03-29
Packaged: 2018-10-12 14:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10492743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ikira/pseuds/Ikira
Summary: In the aftermath of their confrontation with Zarkon, Allura has declared Keith to be the new Black Paladin. But Keith is still reeling from Shiro’s disappearance, and to say he takes the announcement badly is an understatement.The only one who seems even more upset about Keith becoming the Black Paladin is Lance, and he’s all too ready to let Keith know it. But a confrontation with Lance is exactly what Keith needs to come to terms with his new responsibilities, and Lance has some things to learn about his teammate at the same time.Use your words, boys.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Finally, I have managed to write a fic that didn't balloon into a 10k multichapter beast beyond my control! Heck yeah!
> 
> I wanted to write this scene since the moment I finished Season 2. The way I saw it, at the end of the season Keith was still very much in the mindset that he would NOT make a good Black Paladin. Even though Shiro had been encouraging him and offering advice, and you could tell Keith was starting to make an effort to be more leader-like (e.g. his interactions with Hunk in the Weblum) I still don't think he was quite ready. And so I wanted to write something about he'd feel being suddenly thrust into this role that he didn't want and really didn't feel ready for.
> 
> At the same time, I kind of thought it'd be nice to also address the fact that Lance would probably be really unhappy about being passed over again as well. So yay! We get TWO emotionally constipated boys talking about their feelings for one! \o/
> 
> Thank you to my ever wonderful beta, **sexythewalkingcatfish** for checking this over and making sure it wasn't complete shit. Bless your face my dear.
> 
> And to everyone else, thank you for checking this out, and enjoy!

Keith was somewhere in the Castle of Lions, and that was pretty much all he was aware of right now. His mind was a million miles away, back in the ship’s control room, back with the team that he’d walked out on without a word, back listening to those awful words he never wanted to hear again and yet couldn’t help reliving over and over.

_“…s true, while it will be difficult to find a new pilot for the Red Lion, we absolutely_ cannot _allow the Black Lion to go without a paladin for another moment…”_

Allura’s voice had seemed unnaturally calm as she addressed her remaining paladins. Her eyes were dry, her shoulders rolled back. In fact, you almost couldn’t tell at all from looking at her that they’d just lost someone.

_“…don’t know if Zarkon was completely defeated, and until we know, we must assume that he may try to take control of the Black Lion again. We need a Black Paladin to ensure that the Black Lion can resist his control…”_

She made it sound so simple, as well. So straightforward. As if there was only one logical solution and that it would be silly to think otherwise.

_“…therefore, as he has previously demonstrated that he can pilot the Black Lion, Keith will be the new leader of the Paladins of Voltron…”_

As if her every word wasn’t stabbing Keith in the heart, hurting him worse than his trials with the Blade of Marmora ever could.

He’d stormed out after that, unable to hear any more, unable to look at the princess and see the way her face remained smooth and expressionless, as if she was unaffected by Shiro’s disappearance. Even Coran had shed a few tears when Pidge had finished scanning nearby space for any sign of their missing teammate and despondently reported that she’d found nothing, but Allura’s expression had just hardened, and she’d immediately ordered them to the ship’s control room for a meeting.

And as much as he hated it, Keith _could_ see where she was coming from. She was right; although their battle against Zarkon had seemed to result in a victory, they had no idea if Zarkon was gone for good. If he wasn’t, then without Shiro the Black Lion was once again vulnerable. They _needed_ a Black Paladin to help resist Zarkon’s influence. But _fuck_ , Shiro’s seat in the Black Lion’s cockpit hadn’t even cooled yet, and Allura was already giving up on him and shoving Keith into his place? God, that was cold. Too cold. She hadn’t even mentioned Shiro’s name once in the entire time she’d been briefing them.

He had been so angry when he’d left, he’d actually felt calm. There was a ringing in his ears that blocked out the sounds of anyone calling him back, though he wasn’t sure if anyone had actually tried. And now he was just wandering the halls of the Castle of Lions, reliving the moment that Allura made him leader over and over, despite how much he wanted to pretend that none of this had ever happened.

_I guess you got what you wanted, Shiro_ , Keith thought to the absent paladin, feeling vaguely hysterical about the whole thing, _I’m leading Voltron, just like you’d hoped I would_.

He didn’t know how long he’d been stumbling around before something finally seemed to pierce through the ringing sound in his ears, but when it did, he stumbled to a stop mid-step.

“ – eith! _Keith!_ Slow down you absolute prick!”

Haltingly, he turned towards the far end of the corridor and the voice, absently noting that he’d somehow wandered down into the belly of the ship, near the hangars where the lions were kept. If he turned left, he would eventually end up in Red’s hangar, a path he’d walked many a time before late at night when he’d had trouble sleeping. But if he kept walking straight…

He was jolted from the thought when Lance finally came to a stop in front of him. Lance was breathing a little bit heavily, as if he’d been chasing Keith, but Keith wasn’t sure why. He hadn’t exactly been running. Furthermore, Lance’s face was darker than a thundercloud, his eyes staring at Keith like lasers. Maybe the harsh breathing wasn’t because of exertion at all.

“…what?” Keith eventually managed to ask, forcing the word past the numb feeling that had taken hold of him. Talking already seemed like an exhausting task, and he hoped that whatever Lance wanted, he’d make it quick.

But Lance’s shoulders just grew stiffer, and his already dark expression grew even stormier. “What do you mean, ‘what’? You just walked out on us in the middle of a meeting! What the hell is wrong with you?!”

And part of Keith was grateful that despite everything that had happened to them in the past 24 hours, despite fighting for their lives and nearly dying and losing Shiro, that Lance seemed to pretty much be the same as ever. Always ready to pick a fight with Keith for no other reason than because he could. But right now Keith just…couldn’t. He just couldn’t.

He said as much, though he wasn’t sure if Lance would understand, but he was just too tired and too hurt to explain himself properly. So he just shrugged and said, “I couldn’t hear anymore. So I left.”

Lance’s eyes narrowed, and he scoffed, folding his arms across his chest. “What, you heard the stuff you wanted to hear, and figured that was it? That was all that mattered? You’re the boss now so you don’t need to be bothered with all the nitpicky details?”

“No, that’s not it at all,” Keith weakly tried to protest, but Lance didn’t even seem to hear him, already talking over him. Lance had something he wanted to get off his chest, and now that he’d found Keith nothing was going to stop him.

“You know what? I always knew that you thought that you were better than the rest of us, but I never thought you’d actually go and prove me right! I don’t know what Allura was thinking, making you the leader! I mean, yeah, maybe you have some experience piloting the Black Lion, but is that it? Is that really all you’ve got? Because frankly, if that’s the only reason then I’m calling _bullshit_.”

Suddenly Lance was right up in his face, so close that Keith could feel Lance’s laboured breathing ruffling his hair. Lance’s eyes bore into him, giving him a glare that would have made Keith cower back in fear if he could manage to feel _anything_ past the numbness that had taken over him the moment Allura had declared him the new Black Paladin. Instead he just stood his ground and let Lance’s words wash over him.

“Allura might have put you in charge,” Lance hissed, his voice pure venom. “But I will _never_ consider you our real leader. You’re not.”

Keith froze, feeling his heart stop in his chest. It was like Lance had read his mind, speaking aloud the very thoughts that were currently circling through the deepest parts Keith’s brain, the fears and doubts that were lurking below the surface, just waiting to reach up and drag him down, drowning him. He’d been ignoring them, running away from them as soon as he’d stepped out of the control room, but Lance had brought them out into the open, and they were all too happy to swarm him. The numb shell that had embraced him, that had let him keep it together for this long, suddenly cracked, and all of Keith’s feelings seemed to flood him at once.

Lance was right, he wasn’t a leader, no matter what Shiro had thought, no matter what Allura said. He couldn’t do this.

He ducked his head and stepped back as the feeling of tears pricking at the edges of his eyes started to build, hoping that Lance hadn’t seen, hadn’t noticed. He needed to get away. He needed to get away right now.

“Y-you’re right,” Keith half-laughed, half-choked, struggling to keep his voice even and failing. “You’re absolutely right, I’m not. I’m not the real leader. Shiro is. B-but Shiro’s…Shiro’s…”

He felt more than saw Lance take a step back, his body language suddenly uncertain rather than aggressive. He couldn’t see Lance’s face, too busy staring at the floor and trying to keep himself under control, but he could see the way Lance shifted from one foot to the other, all of the fight gone out of him.

Lance cursed under his breath, and then took a step forward. “…Hey,” he said quietly, uncomfortably. “Look, I, uh…”

Keith jerked back when he felt Lance’s hand brush his shoulder, and slammed into the corridor wall behind him. The sound of the impact seemed unnaturally loud in the narrow corridor, and both of them froze in place, as if everything that had happened and everything that had been said was finally catching up on them. Keith could feel his body trembling, though he wasn’t sure if it was because he felt like he was seconds away from crying, or if it was because his fight-or-flight instincts were kicking in. Although he was sure Lance didn’t mean it, the way he was standing so close to Keith made him feel a little trapped.

“Just…forget it,” Keith forced out through clenched teeth, still looking anywhere but at Lance. “I get it, you’re not happy with Allura’s decision. No one is. Message received. Now can you just go away?”

“I, um,” Lance stumbled for a moment, caught off guard, but then Keith saw his stance shift, planting himself more firmly, and Keith’s heart sank. It looked like Lance was picking for a fight.

“Please, just go away,” Keith begged as a last resort, his eyes squeezing shut. As much as he hated to show weakness to Lance, he felt like a wire about to snap. He needed Lance to go away so that he could try to get himself back under control. “Please.”

But Lance just refused. “No,” he said firmly. And then he fell silent, not stepping away, but not moving closer either. He just stood there, waiting.

Keith huffed out a sigh, knocking the back of his head against the wall he was pressed against. The little jolt of pain helped him focus, to get a better grip on himself, and so he did it again. It wasn’t quite the quiet moment he needed, but it was better than nothing. He could still feel the swarm of emotions under the surface of his skin, ready to boil over at any moment, but at least now he figured he could look Lance in the eye without embarrassing himself by crying. He could sort out the rest of it later.

He looked up at Lance, meeting his steady gaze, ready to get this over with.

To his surprise, Lance no longer looked angry. He didn’t even look annoyed, which was his usual expression when it came to Keith. No, if Keith didn’t know any better, he’d think Lance looked _worried_.

“What?” Keith rasped out.

Lance eyed him. “I was going to ask if you’re okay, but I’m pretty sure that’s a stupid question,” he said slowly. “You’re obviously not okay.”

Keith didn’t even bother to deny it. It would be kind of pointless to do so. But he didn’t want to admit it either, at least not out loud, so he didn’t bother to say anything at all.

“I keep forgetting that you and Shiro knew each other from before,” Lance eventually added when he realized that Keith wasn’t going to speak, watching the other paladin carefully. Keith did his best to hide his flinch at the mention of Shiro’s name, but based on the little twitch in Lance’s fingers, the way his shoulders dropped just the tiniest bit more, the reaction wasn’t missed. “You guys were close?”

Keith licked his lips and swallowed thickly, trying to get some moisture back into his dry throat. “He’s like a brother to me… _was_ like a brother to me,” Keith confessed, his heart lurching in his chest.

Lance’s gaze dropped as he looked down at the ground. “I have actual brothers,” he said hesitantly after a short pause. “Even though we don’t always get along, I couldn’t imagine losing any of them. I…I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”

Again, Keith didn’t know what to say to that, so he just remained silent.

“I’m sorry,” Lance finally said, looking up again. “I shouldn’t have just come after you like that. We’re all hurting because Shiro’s…missing, but I should have realized that you’d be hurting the most, and that this is so not the time to…to be angry about stuff. That was really shitty of me.”

Keith blinked in surprise, feeling very wrong-footed. He didn’t think Lance had ever apologized to him in the entire time they’d known each other, but here Lance was, saying sorry to him with complete sincerity.

“It’s okay,” Keith said for lack of any better ideas, shrugging one shoulder. “I mean, it’s not like anything you said was a lie.”

To his further bewilderment, Lance actually jerked back a step. “What? No, dude, that was all just me going off at you because I was upset. I didn’t really _mean_ any of it. It was nasty stuff to say.”

“But it’s true,” Keith argued back. Now that Lance was out of his personal space, he took the opportunity to step away from the wall, to give himself some room. He took a deep breath, trying to gain back a little bit more control. “I’m not cut out to be the leader of Voltron, you’re right. Allura is making a mistake.”

“Dude,” Lance goggled at him, looking more than a little slack-jawed. “ _Keith_. What the heck are you talking about? You have to be the Black Paladin.”

“Why?” Keith snapped, whirling towards Lance so aggressively that Lance yelped and jumped back. “Why the hell should I be the Black Paladin? I’m a loner, Lance! And I’m reckless and aggressive and I never think things through! Why do you think they threw me out of the Garrison?”

Lance started to say something, but Keith just kept going, bulldozing over Lance’s words. “I don’t play well with others, I have no other experience working on a team other than this one, and I’m definitely not cut out to be a leader! Why aren’t _you_ the Black Paladin?”

Based on the way Lance guiltily bit his lip, Keith could tell he had been having similar thoughts. Emboldened by this, Keith pushed on. “I mean, after all, you’re the one who came up with the brilliant plan in the Balmera! And you’re always trying to get the group to do stuff as a team; I’ve seen the way you hound Pidge when you think she’s been alone by herself for too long! You’re the first one who was chosen by a lion, you took to this Paladin thing like it’s second nature, so why can’t you do it? Why can’t you?”

When he was finished, he was breathing heavily, his shoulders shaking, but he actually felt the tiniest bit better. Maybe there was something to this whole ‘talking it out’ thing that Shiro had been trying to tell him about for years.

Lance was staring at him. “God, you really don’t want to be the leader, do you?” he breathed, eyes widening with realization.

“No,” Keith spat, turning away and glaring at the far wall. “Of course I don’t. I’d make a terrible leader.”

After a small pause, Lance took a tentative step forward. “Shiro thought you could do it,” Lance pointed out ever so quietly, as if he was waiting for Keith to explode again. “Allura thinks you can do it.”

“Shiro was wrong, and Allura’s only making me leader because I piloted the Black Lion _once_ ,” Keith pointed out with a grunt. The burning feeling of tears gathering in his eyes was starting to come back, but he angrily squashed it down.

There was a long, quiet moment. And then, “… _I_ think you can do it.”

Keith went stiff with shock, and then slowly turned to face Lance. “You…you’re just saying that,” he grunted. “You don’t actually believe it. Just before you were saying that you’d never accept me as the leader.”

“Yeah, because I was being an asshole,” Lance shot right back. “Because I was angry and jealous and upset and you’ve always been the easiest to yell at. But I didn’t actually _mean_ it.”

Keith stared at him in disbelief. “What?”

“I mean, yeah,” Lance rolled his eyes and huffed, “I think if you tried to lead us into battle _right now_ it would be an absolute disaster and we’d all die, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be our leader. We just need time to get used to it, I guess. Time to get used to everything.”

“I-I don’t know,” Keith said, but beneath all of the doubts and self-hatred and pain at Shiro’s disappearance, there was the faintest flicker of hope beginning to grow. “I just…I don’t know.”

“Well tough shit, bro, because I don’t think we have much of a choice,” Lance laughed, a short ugly sound that was nothing like his usual laughter. And yet, it still managed to lighten the mood the tiniest bit. “As the princess so cheerfully pointed out, we _need_ a Black Paladin, and you’re kind of the best option we’ve got. So whether we like it or not, you’re going to be the leader. And…yeah, like I said, it’ll be hard at first, but I _do_ think you can do it. Just don’t tell Hunk I said that.”

Keith snorted. For the first time since before they’d taken on Zarkon, he actually felt the ghost of a smile on his lips. “Wow, Lance, way to make me feel better.”

“I try.” Lance puffed up his chest like some kind of pigeon and buffed his nails against his chest plate. The image was so ridiculous that Keith actually snickered.

“Fine,” he huffed, recognizing a losing battle when he saw it. “I will give this whole ‘leader-of-Voltron’ thing a try. Because I _have_ to.”

“That’s the spirit!”

“ _But_ ,” Keith added, holding up a finger. Lance raised an eyebrow at him. “But. I’m only going to do it if you promise to be my right-hand man.”

If Lance had been drinking something at that moment, Keith was pretty sure he would have spat it out.“W-what?” Lance spluttered, caught completely off guard. “You want me to be what?”

“I don’t mean literally, like, piloting Red,” Keith quickly assured him. “I know you said you and Blue were very happy together, and besides I don’t think Red would take to you that much.”

“Hey! I’m sure Red could learn to love me!” Lance pouted, stopping short of actually stomping his foot like a five-year-old.

“Sure she could,” Keith chuckled. Then, shaking his head, he got back to his point. “What I mean is, I need you to be there to keep me in line. I need you to tell me when I’m being reckless or stupid, or when you think I’m making a bad call. I used to have Shiro to guide me, but now…now I need you.”

“Keith…” Lance murmured, momentarily stunned.

“Pidge thinks too much like me, and Hunk is too nervous to say something when he disagrees with me,” Keith continued. “But you? You’ve never been scared to tell me when you think I’m wrong. I need you to keep doing that, to be the one who calls me out. Can you do that?”

“I…yeah,” Lance stuttered, eyes still wide. And then his expression shifted to a cocky smirk. “Dude, I was going to do that anyways, sucker. Now when you complain, I can say you literally asked me to do it!” he crowed, laughing for real.

Even though his words were teasing, Keith could still tell that he was genuinely touched.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Keith murmured, listening to Lance’s laughter and letting it wash over him like a soothing balm.

Things weren’t good now. Things weren’t even okay. Shiro was gone and Keith had been thrust into his role without any say, Zarkon could still be out there, the universe was still in danger from the Galra Empire, and they had no idea what their next steps would be. But for this one second, this one moment in time, things were definitely _better_.

Things weren’t okay right now, but as Lance leaned over to clap Keith on the shoulder and give Keith a bright smile, Keith thought that someday soon maybe they would be. 

**Author's Note:**

> Y'all know the drill. [ikiracake](http://ikiracake.tumblr.com/) is my main tumblr and [i-see-london-i-see-klance](http://i-see-london-i-see-klance.tumblr.com/) is my voltron blog. Say hi!


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